


The Daycare

by VelvetSky



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-22
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-11-03 15:17:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10969926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VelvetSky/pseuds/VelvetSky
Summary: Bucky wanders into the Tower daycare. The kids think his arm is cool, the grown ups, not so much.





	The Daycare

**Author's Note:**

> This started after a prompt or conversation I saw on tumblr about imagining Bucky as a school teacher. It's not quite that, but it's Bucky with small children. Not really sure where it's headed. Open to ideas/thoughts/prompts for where it could go next. I am thinking after a conversation with Tony the daycare folks will tell him he can come back and visit.

Bucky hadn't been at the tower for very long, a couple of months, but he'd been cleared by all the medical experts, who said he was 'safe'. He'd been cleared of his triggers by some top notch neurologists that Tony had brought in, and he was in fine health, physically. And they'd said if he wanted to talk about what he experienced or any of his worries, that there were psychologists on staff who could help. Everyone did think it was best that he take some time before taking on mission work with the Avengers though, but it was something they were going to work toward. That way he could sort out his mind some more, work out who he was, before sending him into the field.

Sometimes Bucky felt like missions were the only way he could find himself some purpose. For the first couple months, he largely stayed in his room, only even venturing around the Tower when it was with Steve. Only recently did he start wandering the halls himself, just kind of seeing what was around. Usually he wound up sitting in this lounge or that lounge on various floors, watching people and trying to appear occupied with a book or newspaper or something similar. But sometimes he just wandered. Some people noticed the arm and asked a few questions, some people noticed the arm and avoided him, some people noticed the arm and then pretended they didn't and pretended not to notice him at all. Bucky had come to accept that, he knew he was damaged and maybe a monster, he didn't really expect anyone to treat him like anything else.

He hadn't ventured outside really, just outside the building, to the sidewalk, and back inside again. Which was what he'd done before heading back inside. He'd made his way back up to the sixth floor, there were some offices and a lounge, along with a hall he hadn't wandered down yet. So, Bucky was exploring, he would check out various different areas of the building that he hadn't been before, provided they were spaces he was allowed to go. There weren't a lot of off limits areas, just a few. Moving down the hall, he was mostly looking in front of him, which had allowed him to miss the small child who came charging out of the doorway he was passing, and straight into his side. The child almost bounced off him, but Bucky reached to grab the child's arms and keep them from falling down. Looking down, Bucky was greeted with the wide eyes of a five year old girl.

"Sorry, Mister." The little girl was staring though.

Bucky smiled softly, "it's okay. Are you alright?" He let go of her arms, as she seemed stable on her feet.

"Yes. You have a metal arm! That's cool!" She smiled now, her dark eyes bright with curiosity.

The little chuckle just came out of him. She wasn't looking at him like it was something scary, or she knew he was some kind of monster, which he could tell was how many of the adults in the building saw him, even though they worked for the Avengers and knew he'd been brainwashed the whole time. "Thanks."

"Can you do any cool tricks with it?" The little girl looked from him to his arm and back.

"I don't know, maybe. It can change temperature." Bucky hesitated a moment, then held his forearm out to the girl. She put her hand on his arm and he first cooled it down. When she made a face like 'ooo' and her eyes got wider, he then warmed it up.

The girl giggled, "that's cool."

"Are you supposed to be someplace right now?" Bucky hadn't even considered the notion of children in the building.

"Here." She shrugged and glanced back into the room she'd come from, which had five other children round about her age playing.

"There must be grown ups around, right?" He spotted the kids, but not any adult minders.

"There are. They might be across the hall." She pointed at the door he'd just passed on the other side of the hall.

"They just let you play without them watching?" Bucky supposed if he'd really thought about it, when he was that age, he'd been left to play on his own, outside sometimes even, without his parents or any other adult watching.

"Sure, sometimes. But they watch the end of the hall so we can't go past there, but all the rooms in this hall are for daycare. So we can play wherever. They check on us a lot." The little girl shrugged and moved down the hall farther, where there were a few more doors, some open, some closed.

Bucky had just stood there, thinking perhaps he shouldn't be in the daycare hall. There had been a security guard at his desk in the floor lobby who watched everyone, and the guy had said nothing about Bucky not being allowed to walk down there. Nor had the lady at the window which he now assumed was for the day care. Most people in the building were aware of who he was at this point. He was fairly sure Tony had issued some kind of memo about it. The little girl stopped at the next doorway and looked at Bucky then motioned him to follow her. "I'm not sure I belong here. I didn't really know what this hall was."

"Are you lost then?" The girl walked back over to him.

Bucky shifted, "I don't know. Maybe."

"Well, this is a good, safe place to be when you're lost. They can make sure someone who knows you comes and finds you." The girl reached for his hand and softly pulled, and Bucky let himself be lead down the hall.

The room she lead him to had a gate at the entrance of the open door, and there were ten young kids, toddler age, in various states. There was an actual adult present in that room, unlike the room of perhaps five and six year olds that she'd come out of. The girl opened the gate and pulled him inside. Bucky looked around as a few of the little toddlers looked at him, while others seemed too involved in whatever they were doing to notice. The adult in the room, a perhaps thirty-ish woman, stood up and went right for them. "Mollie, what are you doing?"

Bucky could see the nervous and worried look on the woman's face. The little girl, Mollie, just smiled, "he might be lost. I am going to help."

"Thank you, you helped me, a lot." Bucky shifted to try to leave before the woman had to say anything else. He could tell he shouldn't have been in this hall. He wouldn't make that mistake again. But Mollie had not let go of his hand, and then he felt a small smack and grab at his leg. Bucky looked down and there was a little boy looking back up at him, his little hands clutching Bucky's pant leg. "Hello."

The little boy giggled and reached up and patted at Bucky's metal hand. The woman's eyes went wide, "Caleb, no!"

The boy jumped, as did most of the other little ones, and Caleb looked frightened, first at the woman, then at Bucky. "It's okay, I'm going." Bucky tried to pull away, but Mollie, wide eyed and nervous at the woman's reaction, still wouldn't release Bucky. Yes, he could have forced himself out of her grip, but he didn't want to scare them, or scare them more.

"Why are you here?" The woman's attention turned onto Bucky.

"I didn't know this was the daycare, I was just exploring the Tower. I'm sorry, it won't happen again." Bucky definitely wouldn't make that mistake again.

"No, don't go." Mollie released his hand finally, only to wrap her arms around his waist and hug him.

Bucky's hand went to the girl's head, before thinking about it, then let go when the woman looked very worried again. Bucky looked at her, "look, I know what everyone here thinks of me. I'm not looking to hurt or worry anyone."

"Clink, clink!" The little boy called out, tapping at Bucky's metal hand. Well, it was more like 'kin, kin', but clink was the sound the boy was trying to make. A few of the other toddlers had clustered about to see as well.

"It was nice to meet you kids, I need to go." Mollie let go, but pouted. Bucky tried to smile, but the sad probably showed in his eyes, and the kids seemed to see that. Still, he slowly turned and left.


End file.
